Lady in the White Kimono
by Lacy Moonlight
Summary: A good length one shot, took me a few weeks to write. Hope you enjoy. When Ayako's friend asks for help with a certain ghost problem she calls Naru, not knowing the danger it puts him in. or something like that...


"_I don't want to do this, I DON'T want to do this!" Mai screams in her mind._

"_To bad Mai, you and your little ghost hunting gang wanted to interfere with my plan. Now it's my turn for revenge, lets see how strong your group is when you big bad leader is dead." The spirit possessing her cackles as her control over Mai strengthens._

_The spirit forced Mai out of bed, careful not to wake Masako or Ayako. Mai walked out of the room, the white kimono she was wearing flowing behind her, the red on her lips as dark as blood. Her hand grasps a kitchen knife and she turns to walk towards the guy's room._

_A slight smile appears on her face as she approaches the door. She can hear the footsteps of Masako and Ayako not far behind. Mai pushes the door open and spies Naru sleeping soundly in his bed, Lin in the next bed over, and Monk, Yasu, and John on the other side of the room. Mai silently steps forward, raising the knife, ready to kill Naru._

_**10 hours before**_

"Ayako this place is awesome!" Mai Taniyama spun around in the sunlight; this was so worth the five-hour car ride.

"Glad you like it Mai." Ayako laughs, pulling out her luggage.

"So why are we at your friends?" Monk asked.

"She's had some odd experiences, and even got one on video. I would've helped her myself but…" Ayako trails off. A woman opens the front door of the house and yells out.

"Ayako!"

"Kimiko!" The two friends hug, as if they hadn't seen each other in a while.

"Thank you so much Mr. Shibuya, it means so much to me that you came."

"Not at all Ms. Norika." Naru replies with a kind smile.

The woman's name is Kimiko Norika, thirty years old and recently widowed. Her bubbly personality attracts most everyone, her raven black hair and striking violet eyes as well.

Kimiko waves her hand and leads everyone inside. Her house seemed larger on the inside than it did on the outside. Large ornate decorations cover the crème colored walls, an oriental rug runs from the door to the entryway of the library, paintings by famous artists hang above a wooden wine cabinet and a soft melody from a piano is heard.

"When you said she had money I pictured something different." Monk whispers to Ayako.

"Shhh, most of it was from her husbands death. Don't remind her of it." Ayako harshly whispers back.

"Gee, I'm sorry. What was I thinking?" Monk says sarcastically.

"You may use these three rooms as you see fit." Kimiko smiles sweetly and walks back down the steps, attending to the screeching kettle. Naru steps into the middle room, placing the equipment he had brought with him on one of the tables.

"Mai, set up base here."

"Got it." Mai heads back to the van, carrying in the shelves and cameras.

"I assume the rooms on the other side will be where we're sleeping?" Masako grasps her tote bag with both hands.

"Hai." Naru concentrates on putting up the shelves, Mai stands by him placing the monitors on them. Ayako throws her suitcase in the room and starts helping set up. The two girls take turns going out to the van and bringing in the cameras, Mai and Yasu were assigned to place them.

"So what exactly happened here?"

"Um, I think Naru has the video of it. I'm not too sure on the details, it was something to do with Kimiko's daughter if I remember correctly."

"Let's go watch it." Yasu says as he finishes placing the last camera. The two walk back to the base.

"Hey Naru, do you have the video Kimiko said she recorded?"

"It's over there." Naru points to a stack of videos and DVD's. She places it in to the player. The blue screen disappears to show Kimiko and a little girl, about five-years-old, sitting on the wood floor in the dining room.

"Hana, tell Mommy what's wrong." Kimiko spoke softly to the girl. The girl looks up; her eyes blood shot. At that moment the video goes blank, filling the screen with black and white fuzz. A few moments later the picture returns, the camera on Kimiko's terrified face.

"H-Hana?" The little girl was back in the shot, this time wearing a white kimono and deep red lipstick.

"Hana's not here any more; neither is your husband for that matter. You are Next." The girl laughed and soon fell over in a lifeless heap. Kimiko cried out, tears spilling from her eyes; the video cut to black.

"That was…" Yasu searches for the word to describe what he had just seen.

"Intense." Mai finishes for him.

"Yeah…" It was silent for a while, everyone gathering their thoughts, some their nerves.

"Wait, I recall a case similar to this." Everyone turns to Masako, hoping for insight.

"A few years ago I met this family, they were extremely wealthy: so much so that they redesigned their house, to something more western in design. It was something the wife really wanted; she loved American designs. So her husband hired some contractors to fix up the house. Then like about a month after the renovations were completed they starting noticing weird things happening."

"Weird things like what?" Mai asks.

"Things like: tea being brewed with out anyone being home, or coming back to find most of the floors covered in tatami mats. However the weirdest thing happened after they had called for my help. I had met the husband for lunch and when we arrived back at his house his wife was lying on the floor in a white kimono."

"At first I had thought she was dead, but then she sat up. She was singing some sort of Japanese children's song, smiling like some four-year-old, and then she pulled out a knife. She was babbling on about culture and Japanese pride and stuff like that, nationalism. When she ended her speech she said three words: "You. Are. Next."

A crash and a blood-curdling scream came up from down stairs. In a flash everyone was down the stairs, minus Lin who walked, and in the kitchen where the sound seemed to have originated.

"Kimiko, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just slipped on the floor."

"You're such a klutz." Ayako scolded, helping her friend up.

"We'll help you clean up." Mai offers.

"Thank you."

Half an hour later the shattered remains of the tea set were long gone. John stays down to help Mai and Ayako with Kimiko, the rest of the group heads up stairs.

"We should probably get to bed." Mai muses looking at the clock.

"You're probably right." Ayako agrees.

"Did you find anything yet?" Kimiko asks as she clears the table.

"Just some temperature fluctuations, nothing big. Don't worry; we'll be keeping an eye on the cameras all night. We'll know if something happens." John reassures her, she smiles in response.

Everyone retires to their respective bedroom, the doors all closed and lights off. The large grandfather clock in the hall chimes eleven, and Mai awakes from her horrid dream in a hazy state. The room had become unbearably hot; she throws the covers off of her. Her eyes wander over to the closet by her bed, a pure white kimono was hanging on it. It was odd, she was positive it wasn't there when she went to bed, and it wasn't Masako's. So then who's?

Mai felt that a part of her wanted to wear the kimono, and another part was afraid of it. Almost against her will she stands and walks towards the closet. She strips off most of her clothing, leaving on her underclothes; she puts on the snowy colored garment.

All of a sudden an image flashes into her mind; it was Naru! He was lying in the bed, sleeping maybe? No, there was blood; he was dead! Mai suddenly felt a presence take over her; she knew what it wanted her to do.

Mai slowly began to make her way down the stairs towards the kitchen, the moonlight illuminating her from a nearby window.

"I don't want to do this." She spoke to the spirit over her, no answer, and her hand wraps around the large knife Kimiko kept on her counter.

"I DON'T want to do this!" Mai was angry now, being angry and upset didn't make a pretty Mai. Her shadow glosses over the walls as she walks back up the stairs. She passes the room where she was sleeping, her eyes locked on the guy's room.

"To bad Mai, you and your little ghost hunting gang wanted to interfere with my plan. Now it's my turn for revenge, lets see how strong your group is when you big bad leader is dead."

The cool metal of the doorknob sent a chill down her spine, yet her body still wasn't under her control. She hears it now, Ayako and Masako's footsteps a whiles a way down the hall. Her gaze was fixated on Naru, his steady breathing assuring her he was asleep.

"Say bye-bye Mai, you're not going to see him again."

The knife is poised over Naru's chest; one swift motion and he'd be dead. Just as soon as she succumbs to the fact that she wouldn't be able to save herself or Naru, the room is flooded with light.

"MAI!" Ayako and Masako stand in the doorway, gasping for air. The guys awake in a shocked state. Mai looks at the knife in her hands, the shock on Naru's face, and she falls to the ground. Her tears spill out and the knife clatters to the floor. The room is completely still for a moment, everyone trying to make sense of what just happened, the only noise being Mai's occasional sob.

Naru slides out of his bed and kneels on the floor in front of Mai. He places his hands on her shoulders and she gasps as he pulls her in.

As his strong arms wrap around her she regains her normal state of mind.

"I-I'm sorry Naru, so so sorry."

"For what?" He asks; she looks up at him oddly.

"I-I almost killed you."

"No, that wasn't you."

"huh?"

"You have a heart of gold Mai, I doubt you could hurt someone verbally let alone physically." He kisses her forehead. Mai rests her head on his chest, enjoying the comfort.

"Thanks Naru." His chin rests on top of her head.

"I like the kimono, it suits you." He compliments her after a while, making her blush even more.

"Naru!" Lin's voice echoes from the base, both Naru and Mai race to his call.

"It seems the spirit is still here, and it's not pleased it's plan was interrupted."

"Monk, John! Both of you go down, try to please the spirit." Not long after Naru's request did the two men appear on the small screen in front of Lin. The spirit seems to get angrier as Monk chants and John reads from his bible. John tosses the holy water gently as he prays for the spirit's safe return to Heaven. Monk places some of Ayako's charms around the room. In what seems like a large gust of wind, the spirit dissolves into empty silence.

"It's gone." Monk sighs in relief.

"Yeah, let's hope it's past on." The two head back up to the base to find Naru, Mai and Lin already packing things up.

"So, who was the spirit?" Monk asks sitting next to Ayako on the large couch.

"A woman, her name was Miako. She used to live here, in this house. Apparently, before she died of her illness, she went on a killing spree and murdered several people on the staff who didn't respect the Japanese culture she adored. Before she was prosecuted she suffered a relapse from the medication she was on and later died."

"Wow, is this her?" Mai asks holding up a picture in an old frame.

"Yes, it was in a box of things Kimiko found in the attic, it somehow managed to stay here through out the years."

As the team prepared to leave Kimiko runs out caring a letter in her hands.

"Mr. Shibuya, I just want to thank you, all of you, again for your help. I really don't know how things would've ended if you hadn't come."

"That's our job, always glad to help." Naru turns to the van,

"Oh, one more thing!" Kimiko calls out, her hand stretched out to give him the letter.

"It was delivered just a few hours ago, I'm not sure who sent it but they knew you were here."

"Thank you…" Kimiko bowed slightly and walked back to her house.

"Whose the letter from?" Mai asks from the backseat of the car, leaning on the passenger's seat.

"No clue." As Lin started the car Naru opened the letter.

Dear Kazuya Shibuya,

I know. I know of what you are along with who you are. I even know where your brother is. You know as well. You know who I am. You know where I am. But you don't know what I'm going to do.

Always Lovely,

S.

( '3`) xoxo d[-_-]b

wow, what a way to end a oneshot. Yup, you read right. I'm ending this here 'cause I can't figure out where to take the story. If you think you have an idea or a way to finish the story feel free to write it, just mention me and give me a link to it or sumthin' so I can see your work. :D

Always lovely,

O.


End file.
